The 121 South Africans who were stranded in Wuhan by the global coronavirus pandemic are en route home.

FlightRadar shows that SAA flight ZS-SND took off at about 9pm from Wuhan airport in China.

The flight is expected to land in South Africa on Saturday.

Speaking to TimesLIVE at 9.45pm on Friday, SAA spokesman Tlali Tlali confirmed that the crew was “airborne”.